Bristol n
1 a port and industrial city in SW England, mainly in Bristol unitary authority, on the River Avon seven miles from its mouth on the Bristol Channel: a major port, trading with America, in the 17th and 18th centuries; the modern port consists chiefly of docks at Avonmouth and Portishead; noted for the Clifton Suspension Bridge (designed by I. K. Brunel, 1834) over the Avon gorge; Bristol university (1909) and University of the West of England. Pop.: 407992 (1991)
2 a unitary authority in SW England, created in 1996 from part of Avon county. Pop.: 374300 (1996 est.). Area: 110 sq. km (42 sq. miles)
Bristol board n
a heavy smooth cardboard of fine quality, used for printing and drawing
Bristol Channel n
an inlet of the Atlantic, between S Wales and SW England, merging into the Severn estuary. Length: about 137 km (85 miles)
Bristol fashion adv, adj
1 (Nautical) clean and neat, with newly painted and scrubbed surfaces, brass polished, etc
2 ♦
shipshape and Bristol fashion in good order; efficiently arranged